I’ve always liked to bake but as a college student, I’ve never had enough time or a kitchen to do it in. I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with Lara recently, and she allowed me free reign in her kitchen. Everything I’ve ever wanted to try passed through my mind, but these caramels seemed accessible enough to try.

With ingredients as beautiful as these, how can this recipe not be delicious?

I work with an amazing group of people, and I really enjoy baking things for particular coworkers as a token of my appreciation when they go above and beyond. Recently, two coworkers have demonstrated an amazing amount of patience and humor while helping me with a project, and I realized that my normal sugary baked goods weren’t going to cut it. These are two healthy guys who generally avoid sweets, so I decided to try my hand at energy bars!

The granola bars could not have come out better. They were actually really easy to bake and cut, though I would recommend doubling the recipe if you don’t think 16 bars will last long in your house. The only trouble I had was blender space – we had to chop things up in batches in the food processor. These are a lot of ingredients to blend! (read more…)

I had a craving for a simple but beautiful cookie and scoured my favorites on Pinterest for inspiration. I came across this really straightforward recipe for homemade Milan cookies but didn’t have a few of the ingredients (namely lemon extract and heavy cream).

I decided to substitute the lemon extract with orange extract and skip over making my own filling entirely and instead use one of my favorite flavors of all time, Nutella. The result tastes like the most delicious fortune cookie you’ve ever had with filling!

The main tip I have is to make sure your powdered sugar and butter have completely dissolved into one another. I had a few lumps of powdered sugar left in the batter and, though tasty, they make the cookies look a little lumpy. Be patient as you’re piping them onto your parchment and make sure they’re spaced at least two inches apart! (read more…)